My Neighbors Dug A Two-Acre Lake On My Land While I Was Out Of State—Then Told Me Their Contractor Said It Was Theirs, And That Was The Day I Learned How Expensive Arrogance Can Be

in my back pocket.

Caleb stood beside me at the ridge, arms crossed. “You okay?”

“No.”

“You want to be talked out of it?”

“No.”

“Good. Because I wasn’t planning to.”

The air was cool for August, though it would not stay that way. Mist lifted from the unauthorized water. Birds moved along the bank, confused by the human drama gathering around their temporary habitat. Curtis walked up beside me.

“Last chance,” he said.

I looked at the lake and tried to imagine leaving it. Tried to imagine telling myself